183 vs 21: Final vote on impeach rap
By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:06:00 12/04/2008
Filed Under: Impeachment, Congress, Politics
MANILA, Philippines—The atmosphere was fit for a funeral when the end came for the fourth impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo close to dawn Wednesday.
Subdued applause came from the crowd who managed to stay awake at the House of Representatives plenary hall long enough to hear Speaker Prospero Nograles announce that an overwhelming majority had decided to bury the complaint after a session that began at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
This latest complaint was different from its predecessors because it was backed by the testimony of a former member of the President’s inner circle, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., the Pangasinan representative.
The vote was 183 to uphold the dismissal of the complaint last week by the justice committee, 21 against and three abstained, according to the House public relations and information department.
“The President welcomes this development,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters. “We can now move forward, and have a better holiday season.”
“You might say that,” he said when asked if the dismissal was one less worry for Ms Arroyo, who returned Wednesday night after attending the two-day Clinton Global Initiative in Hong Kong.
“Everything that poses a threat questioning her administration she thinks about seriously. She’s not cavalier about it. But it’s good that it’s over in accordance with our laws,” Ermita said.
Several lawmakers shook hands when the session was adjourned.
But there were no raucous cheers to mark the passing of the complaint, unlike the three previous ouster moves against the President since 2005.
Unlike in the past, Tuesday night’s vote was not covered on national TV. The absence of cameras contributed to the somber mood.
During the committee hearing last week, De Venecia testified that the First Couple went to play golf and had lunch at the headquarters of ZTE Corp. in China. He also offered a photograph as evidence of irregularity.
ZTE bagged the $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) contract to wire the Philippine bureaucracy digitally, which the President canceled after her husband was implicated in allegations of bribery and overpricing.
The NBN-ZTE deal was one of the grounds for impeachment of Ms Arroyo for culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption and human rights abuses that was killed last week by the justice committee purportedly for “grossly lacking” in substance.
Only between 30 and 40 lawmakers remained at the plenary hall when the result of the vote was declared shortly before 1 a.m.
“It’s a triumph of democracy where the majority decides,” Nograles said of the outcome.
The 21 votes that the impeachment proponents got was an improvement over the one vote the last year’s complaint, described as a “sham,” got.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez called on the people to appreciate what Ms Arroyo had done for the economy. He pointed out that unlike in the United States, no bank in the Philippines had sought a bailout because of the global financial crisis.
And yet, he added, the Makati Business Club did not even thank her.
Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, chair of the House justice committee, now wants to make it harder for anyone to hold the President accountable for her actions.
Defensor Wednesday batted for amending the provision in the Constitution that allows the President’s impeachment upon a vote of one-third of all House members and make it instead two-thirds.
He said the present setup was dangerous because under it, “the rule of the minority will prevail over the majority.”
“That’s why they are filing the impeachment complaint, because one-third seems to be reachable,” Defensor said later at the Ayes and Nays forum, adding that it was a good thing that the President’s support was strong.
Ermita himself welcomed the dismissal of the complaint which he described as “distractive.”
“We’re glad the impeachment case is over. Only one such case can be filed in a period of one year,” he said.
With its dismissal, the President could now focus on the government response to the worsening global financial crisis, Ermita said.
“We can now move on to effective governance, and strengthen the position of the government in anticipation of economic slowdown in the first quarter of 2009,” he added.
De Venecia’s son Joey, losing bidder in the NBN-ZTE deal who led the group that filed the complaint, warned in a statement that the administration could face the people’s anger. With a report from TJ Burgonio
|
